Wow, so many things to ponder, I don’t even know where to start. I’m pretty darned uncomfortable these days, and I can’t believe I have just over 9 weeks to go in this pregnancy. UGH. Thankfully, I’m not going to be allowed to go past my due date, and in fact, have probably a 100% chance of delivering early, due to when my doctor wants to induce me. So yay on that front.

Scary thing is, DH was recently laid off from his work, meaning, we’ll have to pay for Cobra to keep our health insurance unless he can get a job soon. We might just pay for Cobra until after the baby’s born anyhow, since we’ve already paid all our co-pays with this baby. Good news is, because all the programmers and designers at Jive Software were in their late 20′s, early 30′s, the premiums for health insurance are relatively low, due to the collective age and good health of the company. Meaning, DH and I won’t have to pay out the nose for Cobra. I thought we might end up paying $1500 a month, but it turns out it’s only about $650, plus another $125 for dental.

His work laid him off on Oct. 10th, but allowed him to stay on until Oct 31st to wrap up loose ends and such. Because the company was very nice, they decided his official last day was Nov. 1st, so his health insurance wouldn’t run out until the end of November. I thought that was very awesome of them, something they totally didn’t have to do.

Which means this nation’s elections were specifically poignant this time around for the Goings family. DH and I are registered Republicans, but we could not bring ourselves to get behind McCain. His policies were vague where Obama spoke of specific plans, not to mention his age and his unfamiliarity with technology. Or his “yeah yeah yeah we’ll get to that” stance on global warming and what we need to do to turn things around.

I voted for Obama, I’ll come right out and say it. Why? Because I want health care reform. I want to find other energy sources that don’t harm the planet. I want to get out from underneath the Middle East’s thumb with regards to foreign oil. I want more jobs here in the U.S. of A. I want the dang national debt to get smaller, if at all possible! Geez! I want my kids to have the opportunity to go to college or at least get college funding if DH and I can’t hack it for whatever reason. If these things mean higher taxes, well, then it’s got to be done. Taxes aren’t necessarily evil. Where does the federal funding for these kinds of projects come from anyway? If we want this country to change, we’ve all got to do our parts.

Aside from the issues, I just could not stand country bumpkin Sarah Palin. Enough with the winking and the you betchas. Her Christian faith wasn’t enough to sway me, nor was the fact she was female. And even the tried and true stance that Republicans are traditionally against abortion wasn’t “enough” for me to vote with my party this time around. Not to mention the fact I’ve become somewhat ashamed to be a Republican in the first place with people shouting “terrorist” and “kill him” at McCain’s rallies. Even during McCain’s concession speech, they were vehemently booing Obama. Did you watch Obama’s acceptance speech? He praised McCain and the crowd was respectful and clapped for him. Where did this hatred in the GOP come from? It disgusts me, frankly.

I’m not a “Democrat”, but I’m not sure I’m Republican either, at this point. Heck, even now, I’m not sure what either party stands for.

The fact Obama is a black man never even entered my mind, and shame on those people who didn’t vote for him because of it. I must admit, I got a little misty when they announced he’d gone over 270 electoral votes to claim the presidency. My children got to witness history being made. On that note, so did I! I always thought a woman might get there before a black man. But I believe it was Obama’s likeability and his clear intelligence that won people over. Imagine, someone who doesn’t make stupid jokes and stumble all over himself in the White House! What a breath of fresh air! Seriously, who wants a president who acts like your crazy Uncle Jethro you never want to put up with at family BBQ’s? We’ve had enough of that for the past 8 years. God forbid we have more of that with Sarah Palin as veep.

I’m very proud to be an American right now. Not just because the guy I voted for won, but because I believe the best candidate won. And if he can live up to his promises, he just might be one of our greatest presidents. If he doesn’t, he could turn out to be one of our worst. Only time will tell. There’s a tremendous amount of pressure on the guy right now, but if there’s one thing Obama is, it’s cool under pressure. Let’s hope he brings some of that into his administration.

And let’s hope this country is finally headed in the right direction with our heads out of our butts and our priorities straight.

Rebecca Goings has always dreamt of chivalrous knights, gritty cowboys and dangerous men who go bump in the night… Now, she gets to write about them! She’s won a few awards for her efforts, but that’s not why she’s an author. She writes because she breathes, it’s as simple as that. She’s never at a loss for plots, and hopes to be around for a very long time. Rebecca lives in Oregon with her husband, five kids (which she homeschools), two cats, and one annoying, stubborn muttley.